Red String of Fate
by moodiful819
Summary: A funeral, a red umbrella, a smile, and a whisper. All leading up to a final farewell. .:SasaYako:.


First off, if you aren't caught up with the most recent chapters and don't want spoilers, don't read this. If you read the chapters or just don't care about spoilers, go ahead. Secondly, yes, this is Sasayako. Though I like NeuroxYako, Sasazuka is just too awesome not to be paired with Yako.

Disclaimer: Do not own Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro, but god, do I want to. Yuusei-sensei is a genius!

* * *

The rain poured quietly the day of Sasazuka-san's funeral. The heads of the attendees were bowed respectfully as the police commissioner gave his sermon; the one given to every officer fallen in the line of duty. Looking ahead, Yako could see Usui's scowl gnawing on his finger. _'This is probably killing him,'_ she thought to herself before it was overlapped by the thought that this speech didn't suit Sasazuka.

_She hated that._

Her eyes honed on the commissioner who did not look sincere in the least. How could he say such words of praise while not meaning a thing? He did not know Sasazuka; she thought angrily, he did not know of Sasazuka's accomplishments and failures. He did not know what Sasazuka had come from or who he was. It should be Usui-san giving the speech.

The meaningless words continued to pour from the man's throat, his sickly face barely able to hide the hints of joy curling at the corners of his lips. He was citing how much the force would miss him and Yako barely contained her laugh. The force had barely been able to function without him. A smile came to her face.

Sasazuka-san…he'd been with her forever. When her father died, he was the investigator; when she teamed up with Neuro, they would always bump into each other. It was as if they walked in the same circles following each other. Maybe the strings of fate had bound them together? Maybe that was why she was the only one who found him. If that was true, fate was much crueler than she expected. Looks like Sicks and Neuro had some competition, after all.

The people in front of her were staring at her and she realized that she had giggled. Pulling her lips into a polite smile, she bowed her head in apology. Luckily, the din of the rain on the umbrellas had stopped anyone else from hearing, and she thanked God for the rain.

Tilting her umbrella, she stared up at the raining sky. A raindrop fell on her knee and she brushed it off, angling her red umbrella. She wished it had been raining the day he died. It would certainly be more fitting, not only because he died, but this weather seemed like him; calm, melancholic, and barely discernable amongst everything else unless sought out deliberately. If she closed her eyes, she could hear his footsteps amongst the raindrops.

_Step, step, step. Step, step, step._ The image was hazy in her mind. His shoes padded the wet grass of the outdoor ceremony. He would be in his usual grey suit. A hand would be stuffed in his pants pocket; the other one holding a cigarette by his lips. His head would be cocked slightly and then he'd turn and smile at her. The smoke curled smoothly into the sky.

And then she was brought back to that awful day. She could still see him, couldn't stop seeing him—_them._ Sicks and his sneering smile, Sasazuka staring at him, that girl holding him, and the blood that just dripping to the floor going _tick-tick-tick_. Why had he done that? Why did he have to do that? Why couldn't he have just stayed with everyone? _Don't go, Sasazuka-san. Don't go!_

She could still remember the last minutes before his death. She was stuck behind a barred window and he was just a few feet away, close enough for her to see his face—see the beads of sweat dripping down his face. Never had she cursed her weakness more than that moment. And then Sicks…

**-getaway!getaway!-**

_And that girl…_

**-No! Stop it! Get away from him!-**

_And then the trigger…_

**-No!** _Please!_**-**

He was staring down the gun.

'_Stop it, Sicks; you've made your point.'_

But that was the point. He didn't care about the points. Humanity was but a gnat under his thumb and even in the face of one of his greatest adversaries, he did not show one bit of grace.

'_Respect him, damn it. Sasazuka-san is a hundred—no, a million more times the man you'll ever be. And get your hands off him! Leave him alone! Let him live! Leave him alone!'_

What had he been thinking of while staring down the barrel of that gun, she wondered. It was said that your life flashes before your eyes just as you're about to die. So what did he see, she wondered. Did he see his family? His days at the police academy? The days spent on the force with Ishigaki-san? Did he think of Neuro? _Had he thought of her?_

Her hands fisted in the fabric of her black dress. She didn't think it was appropriate just to wear her uniform, but maybe it would've been better to have worn it. That's what she wore whenever they ran into each other. To hell with tradition, she should've worn the uniform.

The wind was picking up. A tear fell from her cheek and stained her dress. Her thoughts began racing. Why did he have to go? Why did he have to die? He didn't deserve to. He didn't deserve it. It wasn't fair. _It wasn't fair._

But nothing is fair, her mind rang out. Especially after he smiled at her. That really wasn't fair. Why did he have to look at her that way? _Why did he have to smile at her like that?_

The wind was picking up even more now. The umbrella tugged angrily at her hand. The image kept flickering in her mind's eye. _'Why did he have to smile that smile?'_ she thought bitterly.

Screams were rounding around her.

'_Why did he have to smile that smile?'_

The winds churned the trees, throwing up the plastic covering over the metal stages and flipping chairs like paper dolls.

'_That small smile that said…'_

The umbrella was pulling even harder. Her fingers grasped it firmly. Her shoulder was beginning to ache. She shut her eyes and fled back to the Sasazuka in her mind. The smoke was curling slowly to the sky. His eyes were blurred and something about the way he was turned to her made her stomach churn. Her blood ran cold.

'_Sasazuka-san—__**Eishi!**__ Don't. Please don't…don't…'_

The Sasazuka in her mind smiled and opened his mouth to take in a breath. _"…"_

The wind ripped through the area. The ceremony was in shambles around her. People were moaning from their fallen positions under overturned chairs. The handle bit into her hand—_Tugtugtug_—and then ripped free of her hand. Standing up, her chair landed in a loud metallic clatter. Pebbles and grass lashed at her unprotected legs as tears fell from her eyes and she watched the red umbrella spiral away into the grey sky.

And somewhere far away, she heard it. She heard the words he said in that smile; the ones that broke her heart and tore it over and over again.

In a small, sad voice, he whispered it.

"_Goodbye Yako."_


End file.
